Hell's Jester - The White Heron
by Ace-Zychen179
Summary: This is the story of a fictional 16 year old teenage superhero named Damon Herald aka The White Heron. Raised in the city of fictional, crime filled city of Sentrim. Damon wanted someone to make his neighborhood safer and cleaner. This is his story and his journey to becoming a hero. Follow Damon on his adventure to becoming a hero.
1. Chapter 1

Part One-  
1. Damon Herald I walked around the corner of my block as I did everyday. I've walked the same route to and from school, turned the u corner and circled the same block for 8 years. That's 96 months, or about 2880 days. Yeah, the same fricken' route for almost 3000 days. But today I saw 2 changes. One was slight, while the other really freaked me out. Firstly, it was autumn, just a day ago the ground was covered in pesky leaves. I used to jump on them with my brother as a kid when I had nothing else to do during the day. But lately I can't stand them, every step I take a leaf crunched under my foot. Walking to and from school every day had started to annoy me. But today there were only two or three leaves on the block. It wasn't windy and in this part of the neighbourhood the government wouldn't clean the pavement. In fact, I'd be surprised if they would touch it with a ten foot pole. 7th avenue was probably the worst in the city. My suburb, Orange Valley wasn't a great place to grow up in but it had its upsides. I lived in an apartment close to a 7-11. Okay fine, it has 1 upside.  
As I turned the last corner on my walk, I almost pissed myself when I saw in the corner of my eye a man. An old man with a fascinated look on his face sitting on a stool with a large pile of dead leaves. He was wearing nothing but rags and the only thing he owned was the stool. His feet were stamping on the leaves. He had a sort of curiosity like a child. I go to a public school and live in a dodgy neighbourhood. This type of thing wasn't necessarily common but already at the age of 15 I had seen my share of messed up things. However, seeing an old African-American man with white dreadlocks, sitting on a wooden stool was peculiar. I started walking faster towards the door of my apartment. He was so intrigued he didn't take his eyes of the pile of leaves for the 30 seconds it took me to get to the apartment door.  
I turned the handle as my heart raced. I closed the door and started jogging up the stairs. I probably shouldn't have been so shocked but in the time I've lived in this apartment, I've never seen any hobos in that alley. I'm sure I could've fought an old man if he tried to mug me but I couldn't be sure if he had a knife or not. I fumbled for my apartment keys to open the door, my heart still racing. I opened the door and heard our cheap $60 dollar TV on.  
"Hey, Damon." I heard my sister shout.  
"Hey." I replied.  
My mom, Cassandra Herald would be working at T and H Clothing. My 15 year old brother, Markham Herald, would be in an afterschool fight that would be starting in about 3 minutes at 4:30. And in about 10 minutes he would either be in hospital or buying bandages at the 7-11. I was born 2 months before him, so technically as his older brother I should be there helping and making sure he doesn't die. Either way he was gonna lose the fight, there's no way he was going to beat a 16 year old the size of a 30 year old with the mind of a 3 year old. If Mark stopped running his mouth maybe he could go a day without getting a concussion. That left my 19 year old sister, Zara Herald who we called Z. Though she should be looking for either a job or an apartment, turns out she was doing neither. I walked in to the living room of our apartment to find her wearing sweats, eating a bowl of Macaroni and Cheese whilst watching Jersey Shore. She had long black hair and dark skin like me. I picked up the empty can of V and lobbed it at her.  
"Energy drinks are bad for you…" I said, repeating what she had told me a week earlier when I bought a red bull from 7-11.  
"At least it's not an empty can of Budweiser." She replied without removing her gaze from Jersey Shore.  
It annoyed me how she could come up with witty replies but when she said the same thing to me a week ago all I could do was grunt.  
"So I'm guessing you got the job and found an apartment already." I said "Hahahaha…" She laughed dryly.  
We lived in a 3 bedroom apartment with one toilet and a small kitchen. Even though I shared a room with Mark that had a bunk-bed that filled half the room, we had gotten used to this apartment. I chucked my Puma backpack on the floor that was filled with homework I should be doing, instead I jumped on my bed and decided to do the homework tomorrow morning. My phone vibrated and I flipped it out. I read a text message saying:  
I WON! I FRICKEN KNOCKED THAT OAF OUT! I knew Zara's karate moves wud work! pritty sure I broke sumthing tho…can u come back and help me walk home?  
I replied Mark's text saying:  
Or how about I stay here, aaaand u walk back ureself.  
See you soon -Your loving big brother Mark replied saying:  
Asshole…  
"Zee, did you teach Mark your karate moves!?" I shouted to Zara from my room.  
"I don't know karate." She replied.  
"Tae-kwon do, karate, whatever same thing but did you teach him fighting moves?"  
She didn't reply and I knew she secretly felt guilty.  
My sister had started learning Tae kwon do at the age of 8 until she was 17. Our mom wanted Zara to be able to protect herself being a girl in a dodgy neighbourhood and all. She got her first black belt at 15. She stopped at 17 so she could focus on her college studies. When Mark and I also started at the same high school as her we were almost immediately bullied for being poor. Being 13 and my sister being 17 in her last year started protecting us and beating up any bullies that picked on us. But after she finished high-school there was no-one to protect us. So the bullies picked on us even more. But our mom didn't want us learning martial arts from her or else we might use it to pick on smaller kids or start fights, which was probably a smart move.  
I walked back into the living room and stood in front of the TV to block her vision and make sure she listened.  
"Look this is serious; you teaching him fighting moves has caused him to knock out a kid!" I snapped.  
"Yeah well that was the point." She replied before stuffing a fork-full of macaroni into her mouth.  
I looked at her puzzled.  
"So you wanted him to knock a kid unconscious?!" I asked.  
"I wasn't going to let my little brother be killed." She said "Well mom's going to kill you for teaching him you know."  
"Who says she's going to find out?"  
"I'm going to tell her."  
"I see what this is about." She said, putting down her bowl. "You're jealous, you want me to teach you as well don't you?"  
"No I want you to realise that it was a stupid thing to-" I stopped mid sentence when I realised that Zara had a large bandage on her ankle and a cut on her hand.  
"How'd you get cut so badly?" I asked.  
"Oh well you see, ninjas attacked us and I had to fight them so they wouldn't destroy the house but don't worry I took care of it." She replied.  
"Don't joke with me, those cuts are serious."  
"It's none of your beeswax."  
I knew well that she kept things to herself and prying would just make her angry, I was still worried but as I was about to say something Mark walked in.  
Markham had spiky jet black hair, dark brown eyes, freckles and wore the same clothes as me. Not the same style but we literally shared clothes. We were pretty much the same height except he's Caucasian with brown hair and I'm black with short dreads. Of course, we're not related by blood, we're adopted brothers. The only thing we share is a house…and clothes, and shoes, a room and food. We might as well be blood related. However my sister and I are actually blood related. Our mom adopted us when I was 1 and my sister was 4. My biological mother was best friends with my mom and was actually our godmother until she adopted us.  
I don't know what happened to our biological mother but our mum forgets a lot at the age of 41 and she had to come up with a different lie each time. First it was that she moved away because of the stress of being a single parent. The second was that she died in a tragic car accident. And the most recent lie was that she just disappeared and left us at her door. I knew from the age of 11 that they were all lies, but I didn't care. I didn't want to have to add more stress onto our mom who was working two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. And anyway how can I care about someone I never knew…Right?  
As for my dad I can only guess that he was a real dick for deserting a woman with 2 kids in a bad neighbourhood. And as for Mark's dad, he was a police officer who was shot by a drug dealer in a gun fight. He died a week after Mark was born so Mark doesn't remember him at all but he claims when he's older he's gong to fight criminals and fight for justice. He's not off to a very good start but hey, the guy wasn't left with much to copy. 3 photos of Mark's dad are around the house and a few medals, but nothing else.  
"Hey guys, picked up a packet of Doritos to ceeeeleeebraaaate!" Mark said.  
He had a swelling bruise on his cheek and bloody knuckles but other than that he seemed to come out of the fight fine.  
"I still can't believe it lil' bro, up top, I knew you'd win" Zara said.  
"Thanks Zee, couldn't have done it without a ninja master like you!" He said while bowing as if he was a student addressing his master.  
"Yeah yeah, you're welcome but go do your homework now."  
"Fine" Mark said as he walked to our bedroom and I followed after him.  
"Good job psycho, any teachers find out?" I said.  
"Nope, but some chicks found out I was alpha male" he replied.  
"Ahahaha good one, like any chicks would look at you!" I laughed.  
"Just because I don't have different girlfriend every month."  
"Well, I'm glad you won but don't go around knocking out any other kids." I said.  
"Don't worry, it was full luck anyway. Can I copy your chemistry homework?" Mark said.  
"I haven't done it yet." I said.  
"Well can you do it for me?"  
"Nope."  
"C'mon, you're a genius at science, it'll take you like 30 seconds, pleeease?"  
"Fine, but I'll do it later."  
"Thanks bro."

After about an hour and a half of playing the same demo of Sonic the Hedgehog over and over on my phone, our mom walked through the door. Our mom had brown hair like Mark except with many grey hairs and the same freckled skin. She had bags under her brown eyes. I felt like I was far too lazy given the hard working mother we had. Yeah I helped out time to time, but taking care of 3 kids, working 2 jobs and trying to keep us safe in a terrible neighbourhood seemed like far too much. One day at least one out of 3 of us would become rich and be able to repay her. Buy her a mansion or something, I don't know but she deserved more than this.  
"Thanks for doing the dishes this morning Damon" Mom said.  
"That's alright mom" I replied.  
"Have you two done your homework?"  
"Doing it now."  
"Find anything yet Zara?" Mom said "Uhhhh not yet." Zara replied.  
"I see." Mom said. "Well I'm going to head off to sleep now; I'll see you all tomorrow morning."  
"It's only 7 o'clock." Zara said.  
"Yeah I had a long day, I'm exhausted." She replied.  
Half of me felt sorry for her, but the other half was relieved she was too tired to notice the bruise on Mark's face.  
2. New Girl Next morning I woke up and went into grabbed my towel. At 8:01 am my mom had already left for work 2 hours ago, Zara had left to look for a job and Mark was still sleeping. I stepped into our one bathroom and brushed my teeth. It was raining and having a shitty heating system didn't help keep me warm so the shower was a safe haven. I stepped into the shower and cleaned myself in less than 5 minutes but I couldn't bring myself to get out of the warmth of the shower. I heard Mark bang on the door at least 3 times. When I stepped out of the shower he had started eating breakfast and by the time I was finished changing he had already started walking to school. I ate my bowl of Lucky Charms quickly. I locked the door behind me as I left the apartment and started walking down the stairs. I walked outside into the rain but I completely forgot about the strange old man. He was sitting on his stool just looking up at the sky. I tried walking faster but he greeted me before I could turn the corner.  
"Good Morning" he said.  
"Uhhh hi" I replied.  
"Going to school?" he said.  
"Yeah."  
"By your tone I'm guessing you don't enjoy school very much."  
"Well I don't know anyone who does."  
"Don't take the gift of education for granted."  
"Uhmm Okay."  
"Good." The old man smiled. "Well have a good day"  
"Yeah, Thanks."

The whole walk to school I was uneasy I hoped I wouldn't see him on my way back. When I left the house I knew I would have to hurry but now I would definitely be late. I started jogging. Even by the time I had got to school I was still wierded out by the old man. I walked through the door of my social studies class first period and I walked past a girl with dark brown, almost black hair and big, bright blue eyes. She was standing in front of the class in the middle of speaking. The girl was nervous and started to stutter and my social studies teacher, Mrs. Barnes shot me a look which I knew well. The look that said: "Sit down quietly and shut the hell up."  
I sat down next to Mark and flicked him on the shoulder and whispered,  
"Hey, did you see an old man that started asking you questions when you were walking to school?"  
"Uhh no I did not, I was too busy staring at hot transfer chicks." He said.  
I looked at him and then decided to pay attention to the new girl speaking when I did a double take and narrowed my eyes to take a better look at his hair. He had heaped gel into his hair. Not because he wanted to look cool but because that was the only way to keep it down.  
"Did you pour a bucket of cooking oil on your head?" I said.  
"Hahaha good one, well when you take 12 hours in the bathroom I don't have much time to do anything other than put on gel and get dressed," he replied.  
"So you decided to slather your hair with gel?" I asked.  
"Exactly." Mark said.  
"Why didn't you just wait and take one after me?"  
"Because I would've been late like you dipshit. Anyway, I took a shower last week."  
I laughed and saw Mrs. Barnes was getting impatient, as the girl up front was stuttering like crazy. She was trying to explain why she moved to Orange Valley. I saw her legs shaking and looked as if she was close to fainting. I had completely missed the part where she told the class her name and halfway through speaking Mrs. Barnes told her she could introduce herself fully later and asked her to sit down. Of course the only seat left wasn't near me and Mark but in the front near the over-achievers. But my spot did get a view of her legs, where as Mark had a frizzy haired ginger in front of him so he was lucky if he was able to see the board.  
After class we went to the cafeteria. Fortunately the cafeteria at Orange Valley High School was actually decent. It seems they spent the little money they had on good food instead of education and renovation. As usual we spent our shared eight bucks on pudding and French fries. We sat at a table at the back of the cafeteria near the rubbish. The new girl approached our table and asked to sit down and before I even got the chance to say yes, Mark cut me off and said, "Yeah go ahead".  
"So Valerie, what brings you to Orange Valley?" Mark said.  
"Uhh well my dad got a promotion which payed more, but he had to be relocated." she said.  
"Oh that sucks…Oh yeah, my names Damon and this is my little brother, Mark."  
"Nice to meet you, I'm Valerie. Valerie Beckett"

A couple of days later me, Valerie and Mark started walking back home. It turned out that Valerie only lived about 3 blocks away. I couldn't get my head around if her dad was supposedly a lawyer, how they could live in such a bad neighbourhood. We stopped by the 7-11 and picked up a bottle of Pepsi and more Doritos.  
"Hey, uhmm do you guys think I could hang out at your house for a while?" Valerie said.  
Any other situation we would be happy to spend more time with a girl but we were both hesitant about showing a new friend how poor we were. Also I'm sure Mark didn't realise but I noticed that something about Valerie's home made her uneasy. I knew I shouldn't have but I decided to test how bad it was.  
"I mean yeah okay, but our house is kinda boring. How about we go to yours?" I said.  
"Nah my house sucks. I don't have anything cool." She said.  
"Okay, that's fine our house is good." Mark said.  
I noticed her arms were shaking a little bit, that's when I saw a bruise on her shoulder.

We walked past the old man I saw in the morning and he greeted us. Mark and Valerie responded with a "Hello." Was I the only one who was suspicious about him?  
"Was that the old guy from this morning?" Mark whispered.  
"Yeah." I said.  
"Weird." He said.  
We walked into the house and I told Valerie to chuck her bag anywhere. Mom was at work and it looked like Zee was out looking for a job…Finally. All three of us were glad it was a Friday and at 4:05 there was nothing on T.V. Me and Mark were doing a terrible job at being hosts. We would've asked her if she wanted something to eat but if she said yes, the only thing we would have been able to serve was eggs on stale toast or Lucky Charms. So instead we just talked.  
"So what does your mom do?" Mark said.  
"Uhh actually she died 3 years ago…" Valerie said trying to keep the conversation as light hearted as possible.  
"Oh my god I'm sorry." I said.  
"Yeah we didn-"  
"No don't worry, it was a long time ago" She said.  
At the moment I guess you could say we were doing the worst possible job ever at creating conversation. After a long pause Valerie stepped in.  
"So how did you guys get in this...situation." She said. I could tell she was trying to be as polite as possible so I tried humour.  
"Well you might not have noticed but we're aren't biological brothers. My sister and I were adopted by Mark's mom. She's working until 7:00 tonight again but you'll probably meet her sometime. And our sister is out looking for a job, she's 19 an-"  
Just then Zara burst through the door excited and screaming until she saw we had a visitor.  
"Speak of the devil. Valerie this is our sister Zara Herald, Zee this is our friend Valerie." Mark said.  
"Hi" Valerie said. "Uhmm hi" Zara said.  
Zara suddenly looked intrigued and I knew what she was thinking.  
"Very nice to meet you." Zara said smiling.  
"Nice to meet you too" Valerie replied.  
"Damon, can I talk to you in my room?" Zara said.  
"Uhh, yeah sure." I replied.  
I followed Zara in her room as she threw her stuff on the floor.  
"So what did you want to talk about?" I said.  
"Oh nothing I just thought we'd give those two lovebirds some privacy."  
"What do you mean why do you assume their together?" I said offended.  
"Don't be jealous, you can get a girlfriend every other week but they dump you almost immediately. Anyway I want to be an aunt someday so just let Mark have this one."  
"Yeah, yeah anyway what were you so excited about?"  
"Oh yeah," She said pulling something out of a bag.  
I couldn't make out what it was.  
"What is that?" I said "I GOT A JOB!" She squealed.  
"That's awesome! Where?"  
"Soft-Serve Express."  
I then saw that she was holding up a uniform that required she wore an ice cream cone hat. I couldn't help laughing and broke out into laughter.  
"AHAHAHA oh that is HILARIOUS, p-put on the hat I wanna see how it looks!"  
"Shut up it's better than nothing." She snapped. "Anyway it pays well and I wouldn't be laughing if I was you cause in a week I'm gonna be loaded and I'm not gonna know who to share it with."  
I immediately stopped laughing.  
"Anyway I'm gonna go into the living room and interrogate my future sister-in-law."  
I walked to the kitchen and I gestured to Mark to follow me.  
"Is it just me or does it seem like Valerie's kinda nervous about going home." I whispered.  
"Yeah she was also pretty uncomfortable when I asked her more about her dad." Mark said.  
"Abusive?"  
"Maybe, at least she can come here to relax."  
"Yeah."  
It looked like Zara didn't have to worry. They seemed to be getting along fine.  
"Oh yeah by the way Zara finally got a job." I said.  
"Cool, where?" Mark said.  
"Get this, Soft-Serve Express." I said.  
"The ice-cream place?"  
"Yup."  
"Oh my god that's priceless."  
"That's not even the best part, she has to wear a uniform...with an ice cream cone hat."  
"I need to get a picture of that." Mark laughed.  
"Well I should probably get home now it's almost 5 and my dad's pretty strict." Valerie said.  
"Oh ok I'll walk you back, you're new here but it's a pretty dodgy neighbourhood." I said.  
"Thanks."

I knew I shouldn't pry into the life of someone that I had only known for a few days but every time I looked at the bruise on her shoulder, I couldn't help thinking that couldn't happen from tripping or accidently walking into a wall.  
"So what law firm does your dad work for?" I said acting casual.  
"Jay and Tecker Law firm." She replied. "What does your mom do?"  
"Oh nothing like that, she works 2 jobs, one at a clothing store down the road and another at the post office." I said. "Do you have any siblings?"  
"Nope only child, it kinda sucks."  
"Do you want one of mine?"  
"Haha, I wish!"  
"Well you're welcome to come over anytime if you want to hang out with us or something."  
We were nearing her house and I saw she was shaking again.  
"Wow you're shivering, are you okay?" I said.  
"Uhh yeah I'm fine." She replied.  
"Valerie, tell me the truth are you okay?"  
"No really I'm fine."  
"Is it your dad?"  
"No seriously I'm just a bit cold."  
"Did he hit you?"  
She put her hand over the bruise on her shoulder and shook her head.  
"You don't have to lie, you can tell me. If you tell me the truth I promise in return I'll never keep the truth from you." I said.  
"Sorry, I've gotten so used to lying. We've been to three different cities in the past year because he keeps getting fired. He's drunk pretty much every hour of the day since my mom died of cancer. He's a construction worker. I mean, he was a lawyer but he got fired for punching his boss when he was drunk. I've never really had any friends, probably because I always lie, it's become a habit." She said.  
"Did he hit you?" I asked.  
She nodded.  
"Do you want to stay at our house for a bit longer?"  
"No it's better if I just get in the house before curfew and head straight up to my room."  
"Okay, text me or Mark and you can head over anytime." I said. "Did you want to go to a movie tomorrow or something?"  
"Yeah okay, sounds good I'll come over tomorrow."  
"Okay I'll see you later."

I walked back thinking of how terrible it must be for her. Is that what all dads where like? I promised myself that one day I would find my biological father, ask him why he left my mom. And if I didn't like his answer I would punch him in the face. I walked thinking about it the whole time. I went into the 7-11 again to get bandages in case Valerie's dad did anything to hurt her and maybe a chocolate bar for Zara to congratulate her. I saw the old man again in the 7-11 looking at drinks. I had the $5.57 left over from earlier. A pack of regular bandages was $2.99 and I could get a Mars Bar for $1.50. I walked past the old man just staring at the drinks. I took the bandages and the Mars bar and walked up to the counter.  
"That comes to $4.49." The man at the counter said.  
I tried to ignore the old man still staring at the drinks but I couldn't.  
"Umm actually can I just get the bandages?" I said.  
"Okay your total is $2.99" He said. "Do you want the receipt?"  
"No thanks."  
I put the bandages in my pocket and looked at the change. I walked up to the old homeless man.  
"Hi uhmm, sir, did you want some money to buy a drink? I have $2.00 dollars change if you wanted to buy one." I said nervously.  
He looked at me and nodded. "Thank you."  
"That's alright."  
After walking out of the shop, I almost felt bad that I gave him so little. $2 dollars could only buy him a drink anyway. Traffic was building up because people were coming home from work. By now I was emotionally exhausted and frustrated and I just wanted to get home. I took a risk and decided to cross the road quickly. But I tripped on the curb.  
"Shit shit shit." I said frantically.  
A car was coming from my left and I needed to get the hell of the road. But I knew it would hit me before I had time to get up. People talk about seeing their life flash before their eyes. For me it was the exact opposite. I was so scared my mind was blank like a deer in headlights. The last few moments that the car was coming towards me I just closed my eyes. Then I heard the crash. But I didn't feel any pain. Was I dead already? That was quick. No, I couldn't be. I heard car horns blaring. I opened my eyes. The old man had stopped the car with his bare hand. Impossible right? That's what I thought, but there he stood one had stopping a moving car and the other holding a can of Fanta.  



	2. Chapter 2

3. Hobo?  
The old man helped me up and in a split second we were in the alleyway.  
I looked around. "Wh-What the hell was that!?" I said frantically.  
The old man just sat down calmly in his chair.  
"A-Are you in the Justice League?" I asked him still half in shock.  
No answer. He just opened his drink.  
"I've heard of them in Gotham and pretty much every city except here in Sentrim." He said. "Are you like Superman? You are, aren't you? Finally! Now we have someone to take care of the crime here!"  
"What's your name boy?" He said finally.  
"D-Damon. Damon Herald." I said.  
"My name is Noant Tirus Verkal, you can call me Tirus. I guess you could say I am a foreigner." He said.  
"What do you mean, are you from another country?"  
Tirus shook his head.  
"Another planet?" I said puzzled. "Like Superman or Martian Man-Hunter?"  
"Not another planet but another realm. Another dimension if you will."  
"So you have powers and stuff? Like flying and super strength and all that?"  
"Yes but forget about that for no—"  
"Can you fly?!" I exclaimed. "And how did you know I was about to get hit by a car?"  
"When I'm in this realm I can see 10-30 seconds into the future. I had just payed for this drink when I saw you were about to be hit. And I'm at least 3 times faster than you humans so I got there in time. And yes I am much stronger than a human. I also have the ability to teleport to any location I want in this realm. However in this realm I can not fly as I would in mine."  
"Are you in the Justice League?"  
"What's the Justice League?"  
"Well, it's a league of heroes that protect the world from evil." I said. "You have powers and you obviously save people you should join after you clear the crime in this suburb."  
"I have no intention of doing anything such thing."  
I was puzzled. I knew he wasn't a bad guy but he didn't want to help people.  
"W-Why not?"  
"You may choose to if you wish." He said before drinking his Fanta.  
"But I don't have powers or super-speed or fighting skills."  
"I'm sure you don't need powers or super-speed if you are willing to help people." Tirus said. "Does the Justice League not have heroes without powers?"  
"Well yeah, Batman but he has gadgets and weapons." I said.  
"So get gadgets and weapons."  
"I wouldn't know were to get them from."  
"Hmmm…then I suppose I can share my power with you."  
"Really?"  
"But I will teach you how to fight first." Tirus said. "Come to me when you want to learn."  
"Okay." I said trying to hide my excitement.  
"I have one request though, you mustn't tell anyone of my power, I hoped to blend in, in this world." Tirus said.  
"Yeah sure," I was secretly disappointed because I had planned on telling Mark everything.  
I started walking to the door of my apartment.  
"Oh and Damon,"  
"Yeah,"  
"Thanks for the drink" Tirus said smiling.  
"We're even then."  
4. Saturday I flew through the air and landed in front of a bank. The robbers had already taken off with the money. The car was driving off I sped behind car and picked it up with my pinkie-finger. I opened the door of the car and pulled out the money. I looked the robbers in the eye and said: "Back to the slammer boys."  
I flew down to the ground and let the cops take care of the robbers. I handed the money to the officer and shook his hand. A reporter took pictures of me as I shook the police officers hand.  
The crowd that had come was shouting: "Damon! Damon!"  
I was woken by Mark flicking my ear.  
"Damon. DAMON! Wake up. Valerie said she'd be at the cinema in ten minutes. Take a shower, you stink."  
After taking a quick shower, Mark and I decided to head off to the cinema. It was 8:16 and the movie started at 8:35 am. Zara had left for work already and our mom was still sleeping so we left a note on the kitchen counter. We walked out of the apartment and greeted the Tirus. I wanted nothing more than to start training with him later in the day. Could I become a superhero? We met up with Valerie at the cinema and greeted her.  
"You're dad didn't—You know, hit you or anything?" I said.  
"No, he was passed out drunk when I got home, so I just went straight up to my bedroom."  
"That's good."  
We ended up watching a movie about superheros, of course. It was a story about good and evil as they all are and I liked the thought of being on the good side.

I lied in my bed for at least an hour. At 10:30 pm, I was glad Mark was a snorer so I knew when he was asleep. Zara slept like a log so I didn't need to worry about her. But my mom might get up for water so I needed to be quick and quiet about leaving the house. I waited to make sure Mark was snoring heavily. I stepped out of my bottom bunk. I had gone to bed with a hoodie already so I could leave quickly. I picked up my phone, wallet and the water bottle that I had prepared earlier. I had looked for all the creeks on the quickest path for the door earlier. A rush of excitement and fear rushed through me as I closed the door behind me and locked it. I tip toed down the stairs and walked out into the cold night. I was glad to see Tirus had prepared as well. He was holding a bag and was wide awake.  
"Hey" I said.  
"Are you ready?" Tirus said.  
"Uhmm, yeah I think so."  
"I hope your not hesitating."  
"No I want to do this."  
"Good, let's get started, take your hoodie off."  
"But it's freezing!"  
"It will slow you down, take it off."  
I took off the jacket and knew immediately I was going to hate this first training.  
5. Morale Relativism After a month and a half of training with Tirus, I could probably beat any other person that had no formal training despite their age. But if they had more than a year of combat training then I would definitely lose. I learned 3 times as quickly as anyone would at a dojo. The reason for this was that Tirus was able to transfer combat knowledge to my mind. Though, he isn't able to transfer physical strength and growth. This caused my brain to enhance quicker than my strength could but eventually it caught up. The fighting style he taught wasn't like any martial art or fighting style I had seen on earth. It was all about prediction, reaction and patience. It took me a while to understand but I think I got it now. The way he explained it was with the heron and a fish. All I had to make sure was that I was the heron not the fish. A heron can wait up to 15 minutes till it strikes. All the time its head is pulled back ready to strike. As soon as the fish is even a fraction above the water level it will strike with outmost speed and react as fast as possible.  
The last of my combat training was a Friday. This time when I opened the door the fear was gone, just excitement was left. I tip toed down the stairs as I did every day now at exactly 10:35 pm everyday. I now had a ritual before meeting Tirus I would run and down the stairs 15 times. A few weeks ago, I would be lucky to run up and down the stairs once without stopping. I felt healthy and fit. And most of all, ready. I stepped out into the drizzle and Tirus looked like he was thinking.  
"I'm ready, I want to get powers." I said.  
"Be patient Damon, combat training isn't enough. I have one more test." Tirus said.  
"You're kidding me, you don't expect me to fight you do you?" I said.  
"No, this isn't a test of strength or combat, this is a test of morals."  
"What? You think I'm going to use the powers for evil or something. The only reason I trained for this long and this hard was to help people!" I said offended.  
"No, this isn't whether I think you will use the powers right or not, I know you will. This test is for you to understand that things are never simply in black and white. There are many grey areas. There are no good people or bad people, only people who want the best for other people, and those who don't, only those who take action for peace, and those who don't." Tirus explained.  
"Isn't that the definition of good and bad people?" I said.  
"Not exactly, come here."  
I walked over to Tirus and he stood up. He grabbed my arm and closed his eyes. I had no idea what he was doing but I assumed he was giving me my powers already. I closed my eyes as well. After about 45 seconds of deep breathing and not feeling anything I opened my eyes. Tirus was still standing there breathing with his eyes closed and just as I was about to ask him I found us across the street from an ATM.  
"Why are we here?" I said confused.  
"Just put up your hoodie and wait quietly." He said.  
After a few seconds a woman walked up to the ATM and started withdrawing cash. Almost immediately after she withdrew the money a man in a balaclava ran towards her.  
"Okay, go protect that woman." Tirus said hastily.  
"Wait, what? I -I can't fight him what if he has a knife or a gun?" I said.  
"That's part of being a hero, do you want the woman to be defenceless while she gets mugged." He said.  
"Okay." I said almost shaking.  
I ran across the street towards the man who had pulled out his knife already. Great I was going to die at the age of 15.  
I approached the man who was struggling with the woman and holding a knife to her face. She let go in fear and the man lunged to stab me. I dodged and punched him in the face. I didn't realise how strong I had gotten. He stumbled backwards and hit the ATM. The downside: My fist hurt like hell. It was a familiar pain from training with Tirus but I had gotten used to it. I disarmed his knife and luckily, it looked like he didn't have an extra one or a concealed gun. I punched him in the gut and kicked his thigh with a bone crushing force. The momentum sideways caused him to fall on the ground. He was groaning in pain as he tried to get up and the worst part was I had to knock him unconscious. I thoroughly hated this but I knew I would have to do this a lot. As he tried to get up half-conscious with a bleeding head and a split lip, I punched him square in the jaw and heard a sickening crunch.  
"Oh shit, I think I broke his jaw. Does his jaw look broken to you?" I said to the lady.  
I had completely forgotten she was a human close to being mugged or worse. She was on the ground shaking violently and close to tears. Tirus walked over.  
Good job stay here and help her, I'll be back soon. He grabbed the arm of the unconscious mugger and they both disappeared. I picked up the money and handed it to the lady as well as her handbag. She was crying now. Great.  
"Uhh, don't worry you're safe now." I said unsure how this worked.  
Maybe it was more like: "You're safe now citizen!" or "The villain is gone now ma'am!"  
"W-Who are you?" She said I hadn't created an alias yet so I hesitated.  
"I'm here to help. Why are you withdrawing money so late at night in a neighbourhood like this?" I said.  
"My tenant said if I didn't somehow find rent by midnight that I'd be evicted, with 2 days to pack up and leave. I decided to rather get the money now or lose my apartment."  
I sympathised with woman because our family had a few scrapes with our tenant, when we couldn't pay our rent in time we almost lost our apartment.  
"Well you're safe, the man is gone." I said.  
"Th-Thank you, we don't have many heroes like you to protect us. There should be a Justice League to protect our city. We need a Batman to protect Sentrim. I think it may be you. I don't think your costume will cut though." She said, a little calmer now.  
I looked down at my T-Shirt and track pants.  
"Yeah I guess your right." I said.  
"If you can't tell me your name, then at least tell me how old you are?"  
"I'm 15." I said.  
"Are you sure it's safe for you to be doing this?"  
"Ma'am, don't worry. I'm perfectly cable of protecting myself." I said knowing I was lying to myself.  
"I know, I'm sorry. I have a 9 year old daughter named Alex, being a single mother, it's just parental nature."  
I smiled knowing how stressful it was for single parents, especially in this neighbourhood.  
"I hope you don't mind me asking but what's your name?" I said.  
"Jasmine, Jasmine Starr. I work at the post office but one day I'll be a reporter at Sentrim News." She said.  
"The Stanford Post-Office?"  
"Yeah, how did you know?"  
"My mom works there as well! Uhh Caucasian, freckles and brown hair? She usually has bags under her eyes."  
"Cassandra's your mother!?"  
"Oh right sorry, I'm adopted. I guess we don't look alike, haha."  
"I'll make sure to say hi to her next time."  
"Actually I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that I'm a superhero. I haven't told her yet"  
"Sure thing, confidentiality, I get it. As far as she knows I don't know you I guess"  
"To be honest with you Jasmine, you're the first person I've ever actually saved."  
"Wait, so you have no experience at all?" "Nope."  
"So that could have gone terribly wrong?"  
"Yup."  
"Well thank god it didn't. But is it okay if I ask you another question?"  
"Yeah sure."  
"My daughter loves superheroes, she idolises the justice league and she's always disappointed that there aren't really any famous superheroes here." She explained. "Is it okay if I get an autograph for her when you become famous?"  
"Well I'm not sure if I'll even get famous."  
"You definitely will, I know it. I hope my daughter gets to meet you one day."  
"I hope to meet my first fan too."  
"So what do I call you?"  
"Uhhhh." I racked my brain for other superheroes I knew: Batman, Cat-Woman, Robin, Blue beetle, Hawk Girl, Hawkman etc. They all had animals so I guess the system worked. I wanted a colour as well though. I decided to honour my masters white dreadlocks.  
"T-The White Heron." I said finally.

After talking with Jasmine and giving plenty of autographs, Tirus finally came back.  
"Where'd you take him?" I said.  
"Police station." He said.  
"Well it was nice meeting you Damon, come visit anytime." Jasmine said.  
"It was nice meeting you too Jasmine." I said. "Stay safe, and I hope to see you when you're working for The Sentrim Newspaper." I said.  
"She smiled, and I hope to be there reporting your triumphant victories White Heron." She said Yeah I know I broke the first rule about being a superhero in disguise: Don't give away your identity. But hey, she was my first rescue so there was an exception right?"  
"You stay here and I'll take the woman back to her home." Tirus said.  
"Okay, say hi to Alex for me." I said.  
Tirus just touched the woman's forehead and disappeared. I assumed he didn't need to ask where she lived. I knew why I wanted to be a superhero now. That felt, rewarding. After a few seconds Tirus appeared.  
"You gave her your name?" Tirus said.  
"Well yeah, I mean…she was my first rescue as a hero I can make an exception right?" I said.  
"You're not doing a very good job at concealing your identity so far." He said.  
"She'd make a great reporter she really knows how to get answers, anyway I personally think I did a fantastic job at passing the test."  
"This was only the first half, let's start the second part."  
"Well what is it?"  
"Put the balaclava on and find that knife he was holding." He said.  
I did as he said and found the knife next to the ATM machine.  
"Okay now what, why are we playing dress up?" I said.  
Tirus smiled. "You're going to rob a store."  
"Wait, WHAT! Doesn't that go against everything I stand for? Everything any hero stands for?!" I said.  
"You are no hero yet. First you have to learn about how all humans work and why there is peace and violence." He said.  
"Wait I get. You're trying to see whether as a hero I can say no to crime. Well you know what I can." I said. I pulled off the balaclava and dropped the knife.  
"I passed the second test right?" I was searching for a proud smile on his face but he wasn't amused.  
"This isn't a joke, put the balaclava back on and pick up the knife."  
I was extremely confused but I did as he said, he was supposed to teach me about justice and protecting, not how to rob stores. But I did as he said because I trusted him for this long I couldn't give up now.  
"Good, we need to find a small convenience store with limited security cameras and we have to make sure that it's located away from anywhere you live in case you get recognised later." He said.  
"But that's what the balaclava is for right." I said.  
"It's just in case the balaclava slips off."  
"Okay so now what?"  
He closed his eyes and after a few seconds opened them.  
"Okay let's go." He said.  
He grabbed my arm and we appeared across from a small family owned store that sold maps and food.  
"Go in there quickly, pull the knife on the store owner. There is a gun behind the counter so put the knife up to her face to scare her and tell her to hand over the magnum slowly. There are two cameras one at the back which will video your back and another which will get the right side of your face as you come in turn to your left as much as possible."  
"Okay."  
I was thoroughly scared. I was shaking uncontrollably and hated what I was about to do. I was going to hell for this.  
"If things go wrong I'll come in there and get you but don't stick around." He said.  
I ran into the store, this was it, my first crime. I talked about how much crime there was in the city and now I was going to contribute to it.  
"Hand over the magnum slowly and give me all the money in the cash register!" I shouted.  
Worst part? It was an old defenceless woman and she couldn't get her head around how I knew the type of gun under the counter. She was shaking in shock and I was hating every second of this, not to mention I was shaking pretty badly myself.  
"Y-You don't have to do this young man. You can walk away now." She said close to tears.  
"Shut up and give me the gun and the money!" I said.  
This was one of the worst moments in my life. I had never talked to anyone that way, let alone an old woman. She handed over the gun with a shaking hand and opened the cash register with fumbling, shaking hands.  
"HURRY UP!" I shouted again. She was crying now.  
She pulled out what was probably a few months of hard work in a store that didn't get many customers. Not to mention she was still working at 11:15 at night. As soon as she gave me the money I retracted the knife and started running away. I heard her loud crying as I ran out. It was finally over I thought.  
Just then I got a kick in the face so powerful that it sent me flying. I didn't drop the money but the knife fell and clattered on the ground loudly. I looked up at the person who had kicked me and given me a bruise along with a bleeding lip. It was another superhero. Not with powers but like Batman. That kick seemed un-naturally strong. She sounded young for a superhero. She wore black and purple, wore awesome utilitarian battle gloves, dark purple hair, a black mask and black boots that had really done a number on my face. The weirdest part of her costume were the 2 glowing strips wrapped around each leg.  
"Jigs up kid, you're going straight to Juve." The hero said with her hands on her hips. It was like something out of a movie and I was living it. But I never thought in a million years I'd be one of the bad guys.  
Just as I was about to try and get up and run I realised I needed to pick up the knife. If I left without taking it then she would hand the evidence over to the police who would look for finger prints. I scrambled to pick it up and that's when Tirus appeared. Took him long enough, for a guy who could see 30 seconds into the future he sure was slow. Neither of us fancied fighting the startled looking hero. He touched my shoulder and we disappeared. We were back in the alleyway and I immediately fell to the ground in exhaustion.  
"Another superhero, that's awesome!" I said panting. But the happiness wore off when I realised what I'd just done.  
"I'm sorry about that, for some reason I didn't see her coming." Tirus said. "My premonition suddenly blurred as you walked out of the store."  
"Anyway, what the hell was the point of that, I'm not a hero I'm…I'm a criminal." I said.  
"To be a hero, you have to understand criminals."  
"What?"  
"Let me tell you a story. A police officer was on his first case. He eventually caught the robber or as you say: 'The bad guy'. It turned out the robber was a father providing for his daughter and sick wife. It was the only way he could pay for his 12 year olds daughters education and his wife's medical treatment. You might be thinking, why he didn't just get a job? Well 2 years earlier he was falsely accused of assault. This gave him a criminal record and he couldn't get any paying job because of it. The child had to go to foster care after the mother slipped into a coma and died. The child had no other relatives. The foster home couldn't pay for her education. After the police officer realised his actions had let a woman die and literally ruined 2 lives he couldn't live with himself, he resigned and committed suicide immediately.  
"Jesus." I said.  
"What I'm trying to teach you is that if you go into this being a 'hero' then you will fail. There are no good guys or bad guys, only people who want the best for others and the world. The only difference between the police officer and the thief was that they did it in a different way. To be the Fore-bringer of peace and justice, you must first learn to understand those who create war and crime.  
Those words: 'To be the Fore-bringer of peace and justice, you must first learn to understand those who create war and crime.'  
The sentence stuck in my head but I didn't fully understand it yet.  
"Okay, I get it now." I said.  
"Do you? Would you say that robber is a bad person for robbing that woman?"  
"It depends what his reasons are I guess." I said.  
"Exactly, to that woman he was the bad guy, never think like that. And the store owner would have definitely believed you to be the villain right?"  
"Yeah I guess so."  
"And if you told her you robbed everything she worked hard to earn for months and pulled a knife to her face because you wanted to be a superhero, do you think she would have cared?"  
"No."  
"Alright, it seems like you understand. Now go to sleep and come back tomorrow." Tirus said yawning.  
"Will I get my powers?"  
"Yes. But for now, sleep."  
I snuck into the house and got quietly into. bed. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I thought about the gun and the money hidden in the closet. Hmmmm, to be the Fore-bringer of peace and justice, you must first learn to understand those who create war and crime.  
6. Power The day I had been waiting for had come. Nearly 2 months of intense training for this. Mark and Valerie went to eat lunch and I told them they could go without me. Zara was at work and mom was sleeping. As long as mom and Zara thought I went with Mark and Valerie then they wouldn't be surprised when there was no one in the house. I walked out into the overcast day and greeted Tirus.  
"Hi I'm ready." I said "Good, come let's start." Tirus said.  
"Uhh actually If we could do this on another roof or something that would be good, I don't want Mark and Valerie suddenly coming back to the house and seeing me." I said.  
"Okay, grab my arm."  
I grabbed his shoulder and we appeared on the roof of another apartment.  
"I'm still kinda confused about your powers. If you teleport anywhere at any time in a split second, fly, have super strength, see into the future, read minds and have x-ray vision then doesn't that pretty much make you a god" I said.  
"If it's easier for humans to comprehend it that way then yes you could say I'm a god." Tirus said. "But you will not get all my abilities. You will not fly, have x-ray vision, have premonition, read minds or be able to teleport. Your speed and power will enhance but not at the level of mine. You will also be able to learn and grow faster than the average human. The other abilities are only for people of my species. You won't get all of my powers but you will be considerably faster and stronger along with tougher. And in a matter of time you will be able to master combat."  
"So all I'll need is a costume." I said.  
"Yes."  
"So if your species transfer power to humans then why aren't there heaps of humans who have gotten power from your species."  
"Well firstly our species rarely interacts with your kind. Also the energy transfer is more of a hierarchy tradition."  
"What do you mean?"  
Tirus sighed.  
"Well you see, where I come it is only the males that are able to transfer power in the reigning kingdom. The Qeirich, who is the equivalent of a king, would pass his power down to his heir, usually his son. The son would then officially become the heir and would take position of the throne when the reigning Qeirich dies. If the Qeirich does not have a son then the closest male relative will become the king when the predecessor dies. It is illegal for any father in the kingdom to pass his power down to his daughter. However the tradition can happen anywhere in the kingdom, all the way from king and council, to the cooks. It is illegal for any father in the kingdom to pass his power down to his daughter, be it the Qeirich or a cook. This law has never been broken, it may seem discriminative that we do not allow women to have power but that's just how it is." Tirus Explained.  
"So no one's ever broken that law? Not even once?" I asked.  
"Not in the 12 and a half thousand years the kingdom has been reigning."  
"So if officially I'll be the heir, am I the first human to be able to take the throne? Is there a law against that?" I said. "There is no official law, there is kingdom that knows of any human heirs. Once I transfer my power, you will most likely be the first." He said.  
"So are you…in the High Kingdom's Council?"  
Tirus laughed then said. "I'm the Qeirich."  
"Wait, wait. Then why are you here and not in the kingdom?" I said confused.  
"Simply because I got bored." He said.  
"You're telling me there aren't there rules against that or something? You're the king you can't just up and leave can you?"  
"It wasn't a happy life, full of politics and attempts to overthrow me. I prefer living here in rags than living there in armour. They can have my position if they wish, I don't want it." He said.  
"So you ran away from your kingdom?"  
"I suppose you could say that."  
"So if you give me powers, I become the leader of the Kingdom when you die?"  
"No, only if you accept the role." He said. "Don't feel obliged, they will find someone else."  
"And you didn't have any sons that should be receiving these powers?"  
"No, being king makes it hard to have a family at the same time."  
"Okay, then I'm not interfering with the kingdom?"  
"No." He said. "Are you ready?"  
"Yeah."  
He sat down on the roof cross-legged, put his hands together in a strange sign and closed his eyes while breathing deeply.  
"Sit behind me and copy my breathing." Tirus said.  
I did as he said and sat behind him back-to-back. I breathed in sync with him and waited.  
"Will it hurt?" I said.  
He didn't reply.  
After 15 seconds I started to feel light headed. Then sick. Then I passed out.

I woke up and it was still day-time but a little bit darker. I was lying on my side and a pile of puke was next to me.  
"What the hell happened?" I said getting up. As soon as I did I felt different. Not better, not worse, just different.  
"Don't worry, that's normal. In fact, it's usually worse even for the Zychen. I would have expected it to be even worse for a human. Your body is just adjusting to the large amount of foreign energy." Tirus explained. "Are you well enough to fight?"  
"Yeah I think s—"  
Tirus had already thrown a punch but my body sort of moved as if I knew exactly what he was going to do. He appeared behind me and threw a blistering kick but all I had to do was put up my hand. I didn't even look! This felt great, I was holding my own against Tirus for the first time. It was as if I knew every move he was about to throw at me next. Tirus stopped attacking. I turned around.  
"That was fricken awesome! I didn't even look." I said, but Tirus seemed uneasy.  
"Something's wrong you shouldn't be able to use premonition." He said. "Though you may only be able to see only a fraction of a second into the future, premonition is a power only my people can use in this realm."  
This was the first time had seen Tirus confused or puzzled.  
"Attack me." He said.  
"Uhh okay." I said unsure.  
I threw the fastest punch I'd thrown in my life. It was exhilarating. But as I threw the punch a white flame appeared around my hand that stung like hell.  
"Owww, what the hell was that!" I said in pain Tirus looked like he had seen a ghost.  
"No, this isn'—It's not supposed to…" He stuttered. "Damon, you said you don't know your real parents but you think your sister knows?"  
"Yeah she might, she keeps things to herself though." I said.  
"Damon. You're not fully human." Tirus 


End file.
